CLEARFIELD – At Monday night’s committee meetings, athletics director Jon Mikesell announced that Clearfield had received a unanimous invitation to join the District 6 Mountain Athletic Conference All Sports League.
Mikesell told the board that both they and Juniata were presented with the opportunity to do so at a March 4 meeting of the athletic directors from the league’s current member schools.
Mikesell stated they’re now required to sign a letter of intent that must be returned by May 1. He said if it is received well, they will be up for an official acceptance vote.
“I intend on signing and sending it in,” high school principal John Law said. “We’re excited about it.”
Mikesell said that the other District 9 schools were aware that Clearfield could possibly be invited to join the All Sports League.
At a February meeting, Law said the league would be a plus for all the school athletic teams. He said that it’d make for easier scheduling on the varsity, junior varsity and junior high levels.
He said then that Bald Eagle, Bellefonte, both Central and Central Mountain, Indian Valley, Huntingdon, Lewistown, Penns Valley, Philipsburg and Tyrone were current league members.
He said that the sports teams would no longer travel to Bradford, as they’d compete against schools that were located along Interstate 80 and United States Route 322.
“We already play most of those schools anyway,” board vice president Dave Glass said last month.
Mikesell said Clearfield has traditionally played the District 6 schools. He said some teams were unable to do so this season with the creation of the league. He said the teams would now get the likes of Bellefonte and Bald Eagle back on their respective schedules.
Mikesell said the swimming and diving team could potentially see tri-meets due to the number of pools in the two districts. He said teams wouldn’t necessarily have to compete against each of the participant schools but could opt to only face the host school, for example.
Mikesell said that in wrestling, head coach Jeff Aveni was excited about the new league. He also noted that the Pennsylvania interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) will consider the possibility of a combined District 6-9 tournament.
When asked by Superintendent Dr. Richard C. Makin, Mikesell once again confirmed that it’s a two-way street for the school to join District 6. He said that District 9 must accept their resignation, while District 6 must accept their switch.
Law said last month, he believed that the move would be possible if they were in the All Sports League.
Mikesell said he would know the outcome of the league invitation in early May. He said if they’re approved, Clearfield would be a league member for the start of the fall 2010 athletic season.
